Buddhism

This book is a kind of treasure trove of practical-often secret-material that every Buddhist practitioner would love to know. What really happens in initiation? How do you properly use mantras to empower practice? How can you tell when consciousness has emerged from a dying person in order to really help them? Simply not available in such concise, clear, direct terms elsewhere, this compilation of material focuses on the piercingly direct practices of Dzogchen, which encompass much of the range of…

Here is a comprehensive overview of the Buddhist path from the perspective of the three vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism - the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. While these vehicles are usually presented as a historical development, they are equated here with the attitudes that individuals bring to their Buddhist practice. Basic to them all, however, is the need to understand our own immediate condition. The primary tool for achieving this is meditation, and The Essence of Buddhism serves as a handbook…

There seems to be no end to the introductory books crammed onto the Buddhism bookshelves these days, but Counsels from My Heart offers novice practitioners earnest wisdom from a Tibetan master, Dudjom Rinpoche (1904-1987). He does a fine job of presenting basic concepts like samsara and the Four Noble Truths, along with some reflections on the importance of the Dalai Lama and the dream for a free Tibet.

In this new book, Khenchen Thrangu provides an exhaustive commentary on the longest and most comprehensive of the three classic treatises on Mahamudra composed by the sixteenth-century scholar Wangchuk Dorje, the Ninth Karmapa. Khenchen Thrangus teachings encompass the entire path of Mahamudra, including the preliminaries, the main practice, removing obstacles, and attaining the result of buddhahoodÃ¹with detailed instruction in tranquility and insight meditation. This is the only available volume that presents Khenchen Thrangus detailed commentary on this entire text.

In this uniquely insightful overview and practice guide, Traleg Rinpoche presents a thorough introduction to the Kagyu Lineages Mahamudra tradition . The authors approach is straightforward - he presents the Mahamudra teachings as a means of seeing things in, as he says, a positive open light. Even things we might normally regard as bad and undesirable can be interpreted in a more uplifting way due to the expansiveness of the Mahamudra vision. Mahamudra - which means great seal or great…

War and peace begin in the hearts of individuals, declares Pema Chodron at the opening of her inspiring and accessible new book. In Practicing Peace in Times of War she draws on Buddhist teachings to explore the origins of aggression and war, explaining that they lie nowhere but within our own hearts and minds. She goes on to explain that, remarkably, the way in which we as individuals respond to challenges in our everyday lives can mean the difference between…

The unification of Co-emergent Mahamudra is the amalgamation of the whole gamut of essential pith instructions in Buddha\'s teachings of sutra and tantra. Left behind by the former siddhas, ti is the most profound Dharma of the Kagyu lineage in general and the Dakpo Kagyu lineage in particular. It is a very convenient practice, emphasized by the Dharma Lord Gampopa." This translation has been done by Khenpo Konchok Tamphel, Resident Scholar of Songtsen Library.

The Essence of Superfine Gold is the most famous literary composition of the Third Dalai lama (1543-1588). If is a comprehensive commentary on Je Tsongkhapas (1357-1419) A Song of Experience which is the seminal guide on the Stages of the path to Enlightenment of the Beings of Three Capacities. Although brief, this text summarizes the three principal paths of the teachings of the Shakyamuni Buddha. Also included in this volume is Je Tsongkhapas A Song of Experience, plus a brief…

We can achieve enlightenment only through the practice of meditation; without it there is noway we can transform our minds.- His Holiness the Dalai Lama With extraordinary grace and insight, the dalai Lama shows how Tibetan Buddhist teaching on compassion can be practiced in our daily lives, through simple meditations that relate directly to past and present relationships. While many world religions have mind-transforming or purifying techniques, Buddhists have placed particular emphasis on these pratices for more than 2,000 years.…

This unique work provides invaluable material related to the Tibetan Scared Dances, which have met their doom with the destruction of monastic life in Tibet. The Author, during his field work in the Himalayas has studied these Buddhist temple dances. He brought to their description his expert knowledge of Tibetan iconography and ritual. Of particular interest is the translation of the Tibetan texts containing detailed instructions for the performance of the dances.

This concise and engaging synopsis of the text known as A Compedium of Ways of Knowing is used in the training of novice monks in the Gelugpa tradition. This book introduces the reader of the system of philosophical logic followed by Tibetan Buddhists. The compendium of the main points of this great text is accompanied by an oral commentary given by the learned scholar, the late Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, to students at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.

One of the most famous expositions of the Mahamudra or Great Seal meditational system concerning the true nature of mind, is accompanied by a commentary by Beru Khyentse Rinpoche. Also included is the Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion by Asvaghosa, with an oral explanation by Geshe Ngawang Dhargey.

Is one of the most accomplished scholars of the unorthodox Jo-nan sect, strings together from various fragmentary sources a mine of legends and episodes on the origin and diffusion of Taras tantra. The Origin of Tara tantra, though not dependent on legends and largely anecdotal, has nevertheless about it a strong feeling of historic time and provides an important and accurate account of the lineages of the Siddhas who worshipped Tara and passed on her Upadesas, revelations and Tantra besides…

Translated from the Mongolian, this is one of the treasures of Buddhist literature containing parables of the working of cause and effect, tracing the source of present troubles to actions in former lives.

This brings together for the first time a number of extremely important and useful works by and on Tsongkhapa, touching transcendental aspects of Sutra, Tantra and Insight Meditation, including mystic conversations with great bodhisattvas and spiritual songs in praise of Manjushri and Maitreya, etc.

Included in the anthology are: The Opening of the Dharma by Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Foundation of Buddhist Meditation by Ven. Kalu Rinpoche The Great Seal of Voidness by the First Panchen Lama A Key to Madhayamika by XIV Dalai Lama.

This work is an English translation of Jig-me Ling-pas klong chen snying-thig. A visionary prayer describing the preliminary practices required to prepare a practitioner before embarking on the highest path of Tantra.

A compendium of oral teachings based primarily on Kyabje Phabongkas A Personal Gift for Being Utterly Freed and Tsongkhapas A Grand Presentation of the Graded Paths of the Mind. This first volume presents the foundation and initial levels of spiritual training for gradually being able to overcome all problems and realize ones fullest potential in order to benefit others.